Gate.



G. A. NOBLE.

n, GATE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 17,1908.

` Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

2 SHEETS-4R32@ 1.

www

o.. vaxnlndroll. n. c.

- G. A.' NOBLE.

GATE. APPLICATION I'ILED'IOGT. 17. 1908.,

Patented Apr,20,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

albums,

ful Nairn rlfrns ce.. vrAlNmaroN, n. c.

GEORGE A. NOBLE, OF ANNISTON, ALABAMA.

GATE

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Application le'd October 17, 1908. Serial No. 458,237.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. NOBLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anniston, in the county of Calhoun and State of Alabama, have invented new and useful Improvements in Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gates or guards designed to be used on public roads, drives or lanes, for inclosing stock, protecting fields, orchards and the like or for protecting persons traveling over railroad crossings.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of apparatus of this character so as to be comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and install, reliable and eflicient in use, and adapted to be automatically actuated.

Another object of the invention is the provision of automatic means whereby the gate or guard will be thrown to one iosition by an a preaching train or vehicle, and restore to normal position after the train or vehicle passes.

lVith these objects in view and others, as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of arts which will be more fully described ereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claims appended hereto.

ln the accompanying drawing, which illustrates certain embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is aside view of the apparatus as applied to an ordinary roadway at a point where a fence crosses the latter. Fig. Zis a similar view showing the gate or guard down to permit a vehicle or person to pass. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3-3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the actuating devices whereby the wheels of an approaching vehicle can open or close the gate. Fig. 5 is a side elevation with i parts in section of a modified form of actuating means adapted for a railroad crossing. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on line 6-6, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a lever for connecting the actuating mechanism of Fig. 5 with the gate. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the trip arm arranged on the pilot of a locomotive for operating the actuating mechanism.

Similar reference characters are employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawing, A designates an ordinary roadway or drive which is excavated at a point where a fence crosses the roadway and a gate is required so as to provide a pit 1 for preventing stock from attempting to pass over the gate or guard. Extending across the pit are beams 2 that constitute supports for the gate or guard designated generallyT by B. This guard consists cfa number of planks 3 extending from one beam to the other and so arranged vas to lie fiat against the top surfaces of the beams when the gate is down for forming a bridge that is flush with the road surface A. For this purpose, the planks are each mounted on hinges 4 connected with the beams and planks at corresponding edges of the latter so that they all swing in the same direction. The ends of the planks are connected together by bars 5 that have apertures for receiving pintles 6 projecting from the ends of the planks at the corners thereof remote from the hinges 4, whereby all the planks will move o en or closedsimultaneously. Mounted on t e beams is a transverse rock shaft 7 that has at its ends lifting arms 3 that are provided with rollers 9 that engage horizontal plates 10 on the connecting bars 5 so that the oscillation of the arm in one direction will close the gate or swing the planks 3 upwardly and the oscillation in the opposite direction will permit the planks to swing downwardly by gravity to open the gate. lt is to be noted that the pivots of the hinges 4 are so located that the planks tend to gravitate to open position. On the rock shaft 7 is a central arm 11 carrying a weight 12 which serves to hold the lifting arms 8 in vertical position and thereby maintain the gate or guard. closed, and furthermore this weighted arm assists in the upward movement of the planks 3 in the closing of the gate.

Any suitable actuating mechanism may be employed for rocking the shaft 7. ln the present instance, mechanisms are shown where the gate can be actuated by a road vehicle, locomotive, pedestrian or equestrian. The mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, consists of a double crank bar 13 secured on each end of the rock shaft 7 and connected with the ends of each member 13 are connecting rods 14 extending in opposite directions from the gate and hingedly connected at 15 with ush rods 16 located at suitably remote points at opposite sides of the gate, The push rods are connected with l ing.v

hand levers 17 fulcrumed on a post 18 so that the gate can be actuated by a pedestrian or equestrian so as to open the gate before approaching the same and close the gate after passing. ln order that the gate can be operated by the wheels of a vehicle, operating shafts 19 are mounted in the roadway at opposite sides of the gate and are formed with terminal crank arms 20 that are connected with the push rods 16, and these shattshave angularly-disposed crank portions 21 and 22 so that when one portion is upright to be struck by a wheel of a vehicle, the other will be horizontal.

hen the gate is closed, the parts are in the position shown in F ig. 1 and when a person or vehicle approaches the gate from either side, the planks 3 of the gate can be lowered to form the gate into a bridge or pla tform. When the gate is actuated by the hand levers 1.7, the latter are pushed inwardly to the position shown in Fig. 2, so as to thereby throw the planks 3 flat against the beams 2. In case a vehicle is approaching, the driver guides the vehicle so as to cause the front wheels thereof to strike the upstanding crank portions of the operating shafts 19 so that the wheels will rock the shaft and open the gate. After the gate is passed, the driver guides the vehicle against the upstanding crank portion of the shaft 19 mounted at the leaving side of the gate so as to restore the parts to normal position; that is to say, throw the gate from the open position shown in Fig. 2 to the closed position shown in Fig. 1.

'in order to adapt the apparatus for railroad crossings, a gate is arranged at each side of the track and the mechanism for actuating the gates will now be described in connection with Figs. 5 to S. Cui the track are arranged rock shafts 25 at points suitably remote from the gates and on these rock shafts are trips 26 arranged substantially at right angles to each other so that when one trip is down, the other is up and connected with one trip of each shaft is an operating rod 27 that has its opposite end formed into a yoke 28. Mounted in the yokes are hori- Zontal rods 29 which extend toward cach other and are connected, respectively, at 30 with the extremities of the oppositely-projecting arms 31 of a T-levor 32. The third arm 33 of the T-lever is suitably connected with the rock shafts of the gates so that as the T-lever is tilted in one direction or the other, the gates will be opened or closed. The trips 26 are adapted to be actuated by trip arms 3e, Fig. 8, carried by the pilot or other suitable part of a locomotive. The arm 34 is pivoted at 35 and the inner eX- tremity 36 forms an abutment that bears on the bracket 37 when the arm 34 is outstand- The arm 34 is adapted to yield in one direction so that when the train is moving rearwardly, the arm will not operate the trip and throw the gates down while the train is approaching the crossing and for this purpose a spring 38 is arranged to yieldingly hold the arm 34 in outstanding position. in order to prevent excessive shock when the arm 3a strikes a trip to open or close the gate, cushioning springs 39 and 40 are arranged on the rods 29, the outer ends of the springs bearing against abutments 41 of the rods while the inner ends of the springs bear against the yokes 28. Thus the yokes have a limited independent movement when the trips are actuated during which one set of springs are compressed to thus cushion the shock. As the train approaches the crossing, the upstanding trip is thrown downwardly so as to rock the shaft 25 of such trip and move the rod 27 longitudinally toward the gate, thereby oscillating the T-lever 32 and throwing the planks of the gate up to vertical position for preventing vehicles or persons from passing over the track in front of the approaching train. During this movement of the parts, the trips at the opposite side of the crossing are reversed so that the trip that was previously lowered, will be raised to enable the trip arm on the approaching train to depress such raised trip and cause the planks of the gates to be lowered and open the vehicle road for traflic.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, tlie advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while l have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the apparatus which l now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, l desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what l claim is 1. A gate comprising a plurality of planks spaced apart, hinges at the corresponding e( ges of the planks and on which the latter swing from vertical to horizontal position to form a platform when the gate is open, and means for raising or lowering the latter.

2. The combination of a roadway provided with a pit, beams extending across the pit, spaced planks hingedly mounted on the beams and adapted to swing downwardly against the beams to constitute a horizontally disposed platform when the gate is closed, and a mechanism for raising or lowering the planks. Y

3. A gate comprising a plurality of spaced planks mounted to form a bridge When tliel and mechanism connected with the shaft for planks are in ilat position, bars hingedly rocking the same. 1() connected With the ends ofthe planks, plates In testimony whereof I ail-lx my signature on the bars, a rock shaft, upwardly extendin presence of tWo Witnesses.

5 ing arms on the rook shaft, antifriction de- GEORGE A. NOBLE. vices on the arms arranged to ride undei1 the Witnesses: plates to move the members to raised osi- E. A. FAGAN,

tion, a counterbalancing device on the s aft.. O. H. PARKER. 

